After putting a beating on perennial contender and fan-favorite Roy Nelson, some MMA pundits were confused at Fabricio Werdum’s next assignment.

“Vai Cavalo” meets blue-collar heavyweight Mike Russow (15-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) on the main card of Saturday’s UFC 147 event in Brazil, and for Werdum (15-5 MMA, 3-2 UFC) it’s a slight step down in terms of his opponent’s public prestige.

But Werdum has been here before, and he refuses to make the same mistake. Junior Dos Santos taught him the danger of stepping into the octagon unprepared.

“One has to be very careful,” Werdum told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) in his native Portuguese. “People who aren’t that famous but have a long win streak, those are the ones you have to watch out for. It already happened to me in the UFC when I fought against Junior Dos Santos. He was fairly unknown at that time. He surprised me.”

It was Werdum who welcomed the future heavyweight champ to the UFC in 2008, when Dos Santos was still just a Brazilian prospect. Dos Santos capitalized on the opportunity, downing Werdum in just 81 seconds. He was released from the promotion shortly after.

Looking back, Werdum admits he deserves all of the blame for the poor performance.

“I didn’t underestimate him, but we met in a time in my career when I wasn’t very focused,” Werdum said. “I wasn’t doing the right things. I didn’t watch a single fight tape. I had no access to tapes. I wasn’t as professional as I am today.

“Around this time, I was somewhat lost in life. But at the same time, that’s on me only. ‘Cigano’ did his job as he was supposed to. So, if I wasn’t training, if I wasn’t focused, that’s on me. That failure was mine, completely mine. I didn’t watch his fights. I knew he could box but I didn’t know how good he was. That’s what happens. I learned a lot from that fight.”

Werdum has gone 4-1 since that night, notching wins over Nelson, Fedor Emelianenko, Antonio Silva and Mike Kyle while performing better than many expected in a decision loss to Alistair Overeem.

Werdum said he has the Dos Santos loss to thank for his recent run.

“I am even thankful in a way because if not for Junior, I would not have exited the UFC, and I would have never had the best fight of my life, which was against Fedor Emelianenko,” Werdum said. “Had I beat Junior, I would have extended my UFC contract, and I would have never fought Fedor. This was all supposed to happen.

“In my mind I think God decided, ‘Werdum, you must lose this fight to learn a lesson. You’re doing wrong.’ I am confident I learned a lot from this loss, and as the world goes around, I am sure we’ll meet again soon.”

And so Werdum promises not to make the same mistake this time around. Russow has fought just once per calendar year since his 2009 UFC debut, and his octagon wins over John Olav Einemo, Jon Madsen, Todd Duffee and Justin McCully haven’t exactly elevated him to superstar status. But Russow does boast an 11-fight win streak, and Werdum isn’t looking past his current opponent, thanks to the lesson he learned against Dos Santos.

“Since I’m trying to make up for lost time in my career, and since I’ve never been one to wait around, I took the challenge against Russow, who’s nearly undefeated,” Werdum said. “I’ve been studying him thoroughly, so I know his habits.

“I want to claim my place in the sport, and I’m an employee of the UFC, so I’m not one to be choosy or make demands. I have to demonstrate that I’m worth their investment.”

If Werdum is able to dominate a gritty Russow in the same manner in which he downed Nelson, the Brazilian will likely be on a short list of title contenders. Cain Velasquez has already been promised the next shot at the belt, and that fight is expected to take place in September.

But Werdum is widely considered a top-5 heavyweight in the world, and a rematch with Dos Santos could potentially be in the cards.

The heavyweight said he’d be happy to take a second shot at “Cigano,” and he thinks a stint on an upcoming season of “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil” could prove the perfect platform.

“Every time I see ‘Cigano,’ I want more and more to fight him,” Werdum said. “My time will come, but for now my focus remains on Mike Russow.

“After beating Russow, my plan is to go into the ‘TUF: Brazil’ house and shoot a second season opposite Dos Santos. It would be great if we could coach our own teams and then face each other at the end of the season. I’m sure that the Brazilian fans would love it. First I have to win this fight, then I can bring up my idea to the UFC.”

Featuring a rematch between Wanderlei Silva and Rich Franklin, UFC 147 takes place Saturday at Estádio Jornalista Felipe Drummond in Belo Horizonte Brazil. The main card, including Russow vs. Werdum, airs on pay-per-view. FX airs four preliminary fights, and an additional two prelims also stream on Facebook.

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